Oral Roberts University fell under .500 for the first time on Friday afternoon as they lost to North Texas, 3-0, in the opening match of the Mean Green Invitational. ORU is now 4-5 on the season.

The Mean Green (8-2) won by scores of 25-18, 25-23 and 25-21.

ORU hit just .100 for the match and committed 27 attack errors and six service errors in three sets. Luara Rosa led the Golden Eagles with nine kills, while Bruna Silva tallied a team-high 11 digs.

North Texas was led by Courtney Windham, who racked up 10 kills, while Shelby Tamura added eight digs. UNT hit .214 on the day.

ORU started sluggishly, conceding an early 6-2 run that gave the Mean Green an 8-3 first set lead. UNT continued to add to the lead, with a Hanna Frost kill starting a 3-0 run that made the score 17-8. ORU could not mount a rally, and a Sheina Fernandes service error ended the set with the home team ahead, 25-18.

ORU's best chance to take a set came in the second, as freshman Jovana Poljasevic's first career kill started a 3-0 rally to give the Golden Eagles a 7-5 advantage. Later Rosa notched a kill to start a 5-1 run, making the lead 19-12, and ORU looked poised to tie the match.

But the Golden Eagles could not close the set out. UNT scored 13 of the set's final 17 points, including the final six rallies, to take a 25-23 victory. Windham blasted two kills in the set-closing rally, while the Golden Eagles committed attack errors on the final three points.

ORU looked to be on the rebound as Joana Gruber came out hot in the third set, tallying a kill and a service ace to help the road team to a 3-0 lead. Midway through the set, Kylie Johnson launched one of her six kills to make the lead 13-8, and again it looked like Sheera Sirola's team was in control.

But again it was North Texas that was able to close out the set. The Mean Green scored nine of the match's final 11 points to take the clinching set, 25-21. ORU committed attack errors on the final two points, sealing their fate.

With the win, UNT improves to 5-16 all-time against the Golden Eagles, who are now under .500 for the first time since September 2, 2011.

The Golden Eagles are back on the court at 5 pm CT, when they face Hofstra in their second Mean Green Invitational match.